I forwarded the information requested by Rivals (2 year business plan, calendar, writing samples, and a resume) in order to start a WMU site.

I will let you know when I hear back from them as to whether my proposal has been accepted.

Keep in mind that Rivals is not simply a message board. They are looking for content that will bring in premium subscribers. My plate is full already and getting fuller as we speak. While I believe I can pull this off, anyone willing to pitch in will be appreciated (some have already emailed me regarding this).

Anyway, it's a wait and see situation at this point. I have no idea as to whether they'll buy my pitch. I'll keep you updated.

Regardless of the Rivals deal, I would like to see this site continue with traffic, as well as get a colored header with a WMU specific name. There is a lot of potential here, and it appears from what GTswagger has told me, that this site is going to get exponentially better in the future. That is certainly better than "exponentially worse," which is what we saw happen to Scout.

There are many on this board far more tech savy than myself. Elf mentioned starting up a Ziggy Zoomba type site. Other mentioned having their own server and doing something similar. By all means if someone can do that, have at it. If someone can get a site or two up and running before fall football, I believe the traffic would be there. We have enough of a network here (this place, DBS, Scoutchithole, shared emails) to get the word out.

Let's dress this board up, get some traffic, and see if we/someone can get a board or two off the ground.

Thank you for your interest in creating a WMU site. I'll review the
information you provided and respond with any questions we may have. Mr.
Stanley is overseeing other aspects of the company now, so I will be your
contact going forward.

I look forward to working with you and the possibility of adding a Western
Michigan site to the Rivals.com network.

Not that my opinion counts, but I'd rather stay here, providing some changes are made (changing skin colors, having sub-forums), than head for Rivals. My biggest beef with Rivals is that the site is s...l...o...w. It's hard to have patience when it takes every page 3 minutes to load. And we know now that the admin here is attentive and easy to deal with. He's certainly given us plenty of personal attention. Can we say the same of Rivals?

I agree, with the above posts. This place is starting to come into it's own, it's nice being with the other MAC schools. Although I wouldn't mind seeing some premium content from Rivals, I think would have the same problems we did with scout (lack of paying base leading to less and less content). Dont' let that stop you though chip, there may be room for a premium site like rivals for content/information, and a pure message board site like this as long as the articles keep comin.

That's fine, but I why limit yourself. Toledo has 3 quality sites. Miami has a couple, and Kent has a couple. At the moment we have a site in the making, and that's about it.

Frankly, I dont care either way, as Rivals will want a committment of time that I'm not overly keen on. But I still believe having a site with content is beneficial to the school and to the readers. Having Rivals on the door gives you some legitimacy with coaching staffs. Recruits read it, and every kid likes that 15 minutes of fame you get when featured on a teams website.

I gave you my feedback. Rivals is technically problematic for me. But I am only one user.

More important is the fact that Rivals will expect constant content to keep coming in. Unless we have a TEAM of committed writers making that happen, it's not going to work. 'Dip, you can't do it all yourself. You have more important fish to fry on the homefront now. I would hate to start up at Rivals and have it fall flat because we can't keep the content going. Other than Moe and Grubius, nobody stepped up at BI.

JMO, but it would seem easier to keep some content going here, where the demands aren't so great.

Most of this stuff is done by phone. I offered them 3 articles a week. One on game recaps, one on a recruit, and one a player/coach/related story. I also offered to cover team camps. Outside of getting writers block, I dont think it would be that difficult once I got the hang of it.

While this becomes problematic during the school year, it is a lot easier in the summer. As for the other resonsibilities...............I am an excellent multitasker. You could be right though. It could be too much, but I'm hoping it's not. It's my impression Whinny that most of the midmajor schools on Rivals are 1 or 2 person operations, so I dont think it's a big deal going it alone or with another person.

For those that say Rivals and Scout are the same, I completly disagree. While I think Rivals message boards are weak, they're content and recruiting are better than Scout. If we had a legit site, OUR recruits would get more play on Rivals, which would only benefit the programs image.

When I first proposed this I was under the impression it was something people wanted. Maybe they just wanted a decent message board. Anyhow, I'll likely go ahead with this if their terms are reasonable and if they accept my proposal. None the less, I wouldnt mind the feedback from the diehards. I know a lot of people detest paying for content, but that's a choice, and I think we all know that it can be pirated pretty easy for those who dont want to fork out the $$.

Sweet pea is currently on hour #4 of her nap (only interrupted by a 20 minute feeding). Mom is catching a nap. Like her pops, she's a night owl. When she gets up I've got the night shift until about 3am.

There are two ways you can approach doing this. #1 you can be a pretend journalist and waste your time covering games like you're a real reporter, do interviews like you're Jimmy Olsen, and do the player groupie suck up thing while masquarading as a reporter.

I dont want any of the above. An initial meeting with some coaches, establish a relationship, and do the rest by phone. They dont have the time, I dont have the time, and I have no interest in having anything more than a professional relationship. I think the people who are bogged down doing this stuff, are hanging out in offices, hanging out at practices, waiting their turn for a moment with a coach or a player. PHONE..............let your fingers do the walking.

I think it would be nice to have a seperate board from this board because...

1. Easier to remember URL - if your getting to this site from another computer it takes forever to find, unless there is an easier way that I don't know about
2. Nice to be seperate from all the MAC schools. I liked how the old scout was set up.
3. I don't think any of the school forums here have sub-forums, atleast the ones I have looked at. Is it capable? It would be nice to have that organization again.
4. Extra content would be great for potential recruits and the University
5. I think more potential opposing schools have a larger fan base on Rivals and it is probably easier to find opposing schools forums on rivals.

And Dip I think its great that you have stepped up and will try to provide that additional content. It would be nice if you had a little help during the school year though as I am sure your a busy man.

From what i see people want to be paid to contribute (write/report), dont have the interest or the time, or they live out of town. I dont know that many townies on BI or here. In a nutshell it kind of limits who can or could/would be able to pull it off.

If you go to some of the better Rivals sites, they do have multiple message boards for different sports and other discussion. Michiganpreps only has 3, one of which is premium, but others have 4 or 5.